February 14 is a day of many emotions and not just love. Valentine’s Day is a point of contention for many. In reality, it’s just another day that really doesn’t mean much of anything. Unless you just so happened to be a victim of the infamous Valentine’s Massacre in 1929.
Chicago, 1929. Prohibition was in full swing and the mafia ruled. Honestly, the 1920s looked super fun. Would Rsvp “yes” to a 1920s party. At 10:30 a.m. on Valentine’s Day 1929, seven men were murdered in a shootout at a warehouse on Clark Street in Chicago. Five of the men killed were members of the Chicago North Side Gang led by Bugs Moran. The murders were planned by none other than Al Capone, which is something you probably already knew. Side note: 10:30 in the morning seems early for a planned gun battle/massacre. Murdering a bunch of rival gang members seems more like a nighttime activity.
The initial plan was to lure Bugs Moran to the warehouse with a promise of a cut of illegal whiskey that had been shipped in from Detroit and kill him in order for Capone’s gang to gain more control over Chicago’s illegal liquor operations. Also, an associate of Moran’s had murdered members of Capone’s gang in 1924, Pasqualino “Patsy” Lolordo and Antonio “The Scourge” Lombardo. Side note 2: those are the best names EVER. These gangsters with their fighting and trendy names are total petty drama queens.
Once members of the North Side Gang arrived at the warehouse, some of Capone’s men were there dressed as police. Moran, who was supposed to already be at the warehouse, was running late that day. When he saw police going into the warehouse, he waited outside. The police were actually Capone’s men and were inside murdering his men.
Capone’s crew was successful in taking down so many of Moran’s men that Capone’s gang took complete control of the Chicago operations (or racket if you want to go full old-school gangster).
No one was ever brought to trial or charged with the murders. Both Capone and Moran blamed each other for the murders. Capone denied that he was personally involved that even claimed he was at his home in Florida the day of the murders.
Like most of the mafia crimes of yesteryear, this was one never officially solved. This was mainly because of police corruption and payoffs to public officials, which never happen today *wink, wink*.
Fun fact: Al Capone was actually arrested for tax evasion and went insane from syphilis.
On that note…
A Murder Most Foul 